4.  The applicant was born in 1979.
5.  The applicant travelled to the United Kingdom from Uganda on 2 September 2002. She claimed that she had been raped several times in Uganda and that her purpose in travelling to the United Kingdom was to escape from the sexual and physical violence which she had experienced. She intended to work to support herself in the United Kingdom and to pursue further education.
6.  According to the applicant’s account, a relative named S. and a Mr A. helped her obtain a false passport and a visa to enable her to enter the United Kingdom. However, the applicant claimed that on arrival in the United Kingdom S. took her passport and travel documents and did not return them to her.
7.  The applicant lived for a number of months at various houses belonging to S. in London. She claimed that during this time he constantly warned her that she should not talk to people and that she could easily be arrested or otherwise come to harm in London. She was also shown violence on television and told that this could happen to her if she was not careful.
8.  In January 2003 S. introduced the applicant to a man called M. who ran a business providing carers and security personnel for profit. The applicant attended a short carers’ training course and thereafter did some overnight shifts as a carer and as a security guard in a number of locations. The applicant asserted that on each occasion payment was made by the client to M., who transferred a share of the money to S.’s bank account in the apparent belief that he would pass it on to her. However, she claimed that she did not receive any payment for the work that she did.
9.  In early 2003 the applicant began to work as a live-in carer for an elderly Iraqi couple (“Mr and Mrs K”). She found the role physically and emotionally demanding as Mr K. suffered from Parkinson’s disease and she was required to change his clothing, feed him, clean him and lift him as necessary. As a result, she was permanently on-call during the day and night. On one Sunday every month she was given a couple of hours leave but on these occasions she would usually be collected by M. and driven to S.’s house for the afternoon. She accepted that after a couple of years she was permitted to take public transport but said she was warned that it was not safe and that she should not speak with anyone.
10.  The applicant claimed that the GBP 1,600 Mr and Mrs K. paid every month for her services was sent directly to M. by cheque. A percentage of that money was passed by M. to S. on the apparent understanding that it would be paid to her. However, she received no significant payment for her labour. Occasionally Mr and Mrs K would give the applicant presents or second-hand clothes and from time to time S. would give her GBP 20 or GBP 40 when she went to his home on her monthly afternoon of leave. It was sometimes suggested that S. was saving up her income for her education, but she denied that any money was ever given to her.
11.  In August 2006 Mr and Mrs K. went on a family trip to Egypt. The applicant was unable to accompany them because she did not have a passport. In their absence, the applicant was taken to a house belonging to S. When he left for a business trip to Uganda, she remained in the house with his partner, H. The applicant asserted that H. effectively prevented her from leaving the house and warned her not to speak with anyone.
12.  On 18 August 2006 the applicant left the house. She went to a local bank, where she asked someone to call the police. Before the police arrived, she collapsed and was taken to St Mary’s Hospital, where she was diagnosed as HIV positive. She was also suffering from psychosis, including auditory hallucinations.
13.  The applicant remained in hospital for one month. H. visited the applicant in hospital and the applicant claimed that during these visits she tried to persuade her to return to S.’s house. In particular, she warned her that when she left the hospital she would have to pay for anti-retroviral medication and if she did not return to the house she would be “on the streets”.
14.  Following her discharge from hospital, the applicant was housed by the local authority. On 21 September 2006 she made an application for asylum. The application was refused on 16 January 2007. The Secretary of State for the Home Department considered that the applicant could access protection in Uganda to prevent further sexually motivated attacks. Moreover, he found that if she had been genuinely afraid of S., she would have tried to escape from him earlier. The applicant appealed. Her appeal was dismissed on 20 November 2007. In dismissing the appeal, the Immigration Judge expressed serious concerns about the applicant’s credibility and found much of her account to be implausible.
15.  In April 2007 the applicant’s solicitor wrote to the police and asked that they investigate her case. The Metropolitan Police Human Trafficking Team, a police unit specialising in the investigation of human trafficking offences, commenced an investigation to ascertain whether or not she had been the victim of a criminal offence. The police interviewed the applicant on 21 June 2007. During the investigation, the Human Trafficking Team sought the views of the United Kingdom Human Trafficking Centre in Sheffield, a multi-agency organisation which provided a central point of expertise in the field of human trafficking. However, the Centre advised that there was no evidence to substantiate the allegation that the applicant had been trafficked into the United Kingdom and observed that during her time working with Mr and Mrs K she had been well looked after.
16.  On 26 September 2007 the police informed the applicant’s former solicitor that there was “no evidence of trafficking for domestic servitude in the interview”.
17.  On 26 August 2008 the applicant’s current solicitor wrote to the police asking for the reasons for discontinuing the investigation. On 5 September 2008 the police noted that the Head of Legal Services at the United Kingdom Human Trafficking Centre had advised that there was no evidence to substantiate the applicant’s allegation that she had been trafficked into the United Kingdom. He further advised that while the applicant worked with the K family she was well looked after and given some money. There was, however, a dispute over money and it may have been that “her cousin kept more than he should have done”.
18.  On 5 September 2008 the police informed the applicant’s solicitor that “a decision was taken not to proceed with the matter as there was no evidence that she [the applicant] had been trafficked”. On 18 September 2008 the police reiterated that following the interview “it was decided that there was insufficient evidence to substantiate the allegation of trafficking and thus further investigation was not warranted”.
19.  On 5 December 2008 the applicant’s solicitor wrote to the police to ask them to consider prosecutions for other offences, including a jus cogens offence of slavery or forced labour.
20. On 18 December 2008 the applicant was assessed by the POPPY Project, a Government funded project providing housing and support for victims of trafficking. The POPPY Project concluded that she had been “subjected to five of the six indicators of forced labour” (as identified by the ILO). In particular, her movement had been restricted to the workplace, her wages were withheld to pay a debt she did not know about, her salary was withheld for four years, her passport was retained, and she was subjected to threats of denunciation to the authorities.
21.  On 5 January 2009 the police began to conduct further investigations. On 14 January 2009 the police noted that a statement had been obtained from the agent who arranged the applicant’s work with Mr and Mrs K (presumably the man previously identified as M.). He stated that he had been introduced to the applicant by a person he believed to be her relative. He was supplied with a passport, a national insurance number and a criminal records check. The agent stated that the applicant came to the agreement with her relative that her wages would be paid to him. She only complained about this arrangement in or around June 2006. The agent also stated that he feared the applicant’s relative, who was a wealthy and powerful man well-connected to the Ugandan government.
22.  The police were unable to make contact with Mr and Mrs K. Eventually they made contact with a member of the K family. However, no statement appears to have been taken as the (unidentified) woman told the police that she was leaving the country for medical treatment.
23.  On 25 February 2009 the police informed the applicant’s solicitor that the evidence did not establish an offence of trafficking. They noted that “at this stage there is no evidence that would support exploitation of any kind”.
24.  Police officers met with the applicant and her representative on 11 March 2009. The applicant’s solicitor asserted that at this meeting a police officer indicated that it was the Metropolitan Police’s provisional view, given expressly without formal authority, that there was no offence in English criminal law which applied to the facts of the case. The solicitor further asserted that the police apologised for the cursory manner in which the case had been dealt with previously and confirmed that the applicant’s account was credible.
25.  In an entry dated 27 March 2009 the police noted that:
“It is clear that this female was not trafficked into the UK for labour exploitation. She having applied for a visa in her real name to come to the UK was refused. She then in agreement with her father then obtained a false passport with a forged visa stamp. These false documents were paid for by her father with the assistance of her uncle...
She willingly commenced work that was arranged by her uncle as a live-in carer for an elderly couple.
The family at first wanted to pay her wages direct. But on the request of the victim she stated the money should be paid to the agency and then the money should then be transferred to her uncle’s account who in turn would send the money back to Uganda. This agreement was made in order to hide from the authorities the fact that the victim did not have a national insurance number. If money was paid to her then she would have had to pay tax and her false identity would have come to the notice of the tax office and then to the [United Kingdom Border Agency]. This would then lead to her arrest and eviction from the UK...
...There is no evidence to show that this female is/was a victim of slavery or forced labour. She willingly worked and was in fact paid but she choose that the money should go via her uncle in order to conceal being in the UK. It is basically a situation that one criminal (her uncle) has taken all the proceeds of their crime...”
26.  At that meeting the applicant’s solicitor pointed out that S. had taken the applicant’s identity documents from her upon her arrival in the United Kingdom and that this was grounds to prove possible forced labour. However, the police indicated that the documents taken from the applicant were false documents purchased by her and her father to enable her to enter the United Kingdom.
27.  On 31 March 2009 the police spoke again with the applicant’s solicitor. While they accepted that not every enquiry had been carried out, such as production orders relating to relevant bank accounts, it was important to ensure that the limited resources of the Human Trafficking Team were used to best effect and they could not, therefore, carry out any further investigation into the applicant’s complaints.
28.  The applicant was assessed by a clinical psychologist specialising in violence against women. The psychologist concluded in her 16 May 2009 report that the applicant was “suffering to a severe degree from a complex form of chronic Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), in conjunction with a Major Depressive Disorder and she presents a moderate risk of suicide.” In particular, she noted that the applicant presented “in ways consistent with a victim of trafficking and forced labour, in the context of a history of sexual assaults”.
29.  On 11 August 2009 the police noted that they would write to the applicant’s solicitor to confirm that “this particular case does not fulfil the requirements of human trafficking as per UK legislation and that legislation does not exist in relation to sole and specific allegations of domestic servitude where trafficking is not a factor”.
30.  On 12 August 2009 the police wrote to the applicant’s solicitor in the following terms:
“I can confirm that after undertaking an investigation of the case including interviewing Ms N. a decision has been made to conclude the investigation. This decision is based on several factors, one being that after consultation with the legal representative of the Human Trafficking Centre the circumstances of Ms N.’s case did not appear to constitute an offence of trafficking people for the purposes of exploitation contrary to the Asylum and Immigration Act 2004.
I am not aware of any specific offence of forced labour or servitude beyond that covered by section 4 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 2004 though regulation of working conditions are controlled by such areas as health and safety legislation and in certain instances the Gangmasters Act 2004...”
31.  Section 71 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, which received Royal Assent on 12 November 2009, made slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour criminal offences punishable by a fine and/or up to fourteen years’ imprisonment. Section 71 came into force on 6 April 2010 but did not have retrospective effect.